Asbestos Litigation Conference, Mesothelioma Research ...

National Asbestos Litigation Conference

"The program brings together all sides of the litigation," said Tom Hagy, president of HB, "including judges, physicians, and even jurors from an actual asbestos trial."

Chairing the program are Joseph Belluck of Belluck & Fox LLP; Michael Pietrykowski of Gordon & Rees, LLP, San Francisco; and Joseph J. O'Hara, Jr., Esq., Owens Illinois, Inc., Perrysburg, Ohio.

Belluck is a nationally recognized attorney who represents plaintiffs in asbestos mesothelioma cases, as well as environmental and product injury cases. He co-chaired this conference in 2007. Belluck was recently appointed by New York's governor to serve on the state's Commission on Judicial Conduct.

Pietrykowski is a prominent attorney in the toxic tort and environmental law arena. He chairs Gordon & Rees' Environmental & Toxic Tort Practice Group, and is an active member of the Association of Defense Trial Lawyers and the Defense Research Institute. Pietrykowski represents several major defendant equipment manufacturers in asbestos litigation. He has spoken at several Mealey's Conferences, now called HB.

O'Hara is Vice President and Associate General Counsel for O-I, where he has national responsibility for managing the company's asbestos litigation. He has tried asbestos cases all over the country, with more than 20 years' experience in the litigation. O'Hara is a frequent presenter at Mealey's Conferences, now called HB.

"We have been presenting asbestos litigation conferences for more than 10 years, and are honored that the chairmen are leveraging this event to propose possible solutions to key challenges in the litigation," Hagy said. The chairmen have built in problem-solving breakout sessions and will report the results of those meetings.

Sessions include: Federal MDL Update; "Hot" Jurisdictions: California, Illinois, New York, Pennsylvania and Texas; The Changing Case Against Equipment Defendants; Household Exposure Cases; Defense and Plaintiff Break-Out Lunches to Discuss the Asbestos Litigators' Call to Action Initiative; Jury De-Brief Session-Discussion with Actual Jurors from a Key California Asbestos Case; Aggregate Dose Technology and Using it in Court; Asbestos Data 2009; Improving the Settlement Process; Ethical Issues for Settlement of Asbestos Matters with Multiple Parties - Mock Negotiation Session; Strategies for Preserving Asbestos Medical Evidence; The Gatekeeper - Daubert & Other Evidentiary Requirements; and Judicial Roundtable Final Words from the Bench & Conference Summary.

Confirmed speakers include: Mark Behrens, Shook, Hardy & Bacon; Julia Duncan, Associate Director and Counsel of Federal Relations, American Association for Justice; Rod Dodson, mineralogist; Thomas Hart, III, Law Offices of Thomas H. Hart III, P.C.; Robert Rich, Gordon & Rees; Christian Hartley, HartleyLaw; Terry Budd, K&L Gates; Eliot S. Jubelirer, Schiff Hardin; Hon. James McBride, Superior Court of California, Francisco; Hon. Richard Aulisi, Supreme Court Justice, 4th Judicial District of New York, Johnstown, New York; W.G. Watkins, Forman Perry Watkins Krutz & Tardy; with more to come. Linda Monica, Monica & Associates, will moderate a women's networking and business development breakfast.

HB Litigation Conferences, formerly Mealey's Conferences, National Asbestos Litigation Conference will be held at the Four Seasons Hotel in San Francisco Sept. 23-25, 2009

Source: HB Litigation Conferences

Mesothelioma Attorneys